At Hazelwood Schools, we believe that every person should be able to thrive, irrespective of: race, disability, sex, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, or gender reassignment.

In addition, we believe that physical appearance, ethnicity, socio-economic background, and academic ability should also play no part in the way in which people are treated at our Schools. Everyone is equal and we treat each other with dignity and respect.

We are committed to promoting the understanding of the principles and practices of equality – treating all members of our school community as individuals, according to their needs, with an awareness of our diverse society and appreciating the value of difference. We actively seek to challenge discrimination and we promote an anti-bullying stance which makes clear the unacceptability of racism, disablism and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and language.

The Public Sector Equality Duty 2011 has three aims/objectives under the General Duty for Schools:

1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act by removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics.
2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not by taking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people.
3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not by encouraging people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low.

Hazelwood Schools aim to foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it and has considered how well we currently achieve these aims.

In compiling this equality information and policy, we have:

• Identified evidence already in the school of equality within policies and practice and identified gaps.
• Examined how our school engages with the protected groups, identifying where practice could be improved.
• Conducted a survey of our parents to gather information regarding how well we meet the equality duty as a school. 

For more information, please find our Equalities and Diversity Policy and Objectives below.